Our brows draw attention to our eyes, which for many of us are our best feature. While some of us were gifted with beautiful brows many of us wish for fuller brows, or a different shape. The millions spent every year on eyebrow pencils is irrefutable evidence that most of us would change our eyebrows if we could. Tattooing brows isn’t new. It’s been around for longer than we have written records of it, but up until the last 25 years, a brow tattoo was one big blotch of color. It might have given those with almost no brows an improvement in their appearance, but there was no mistaking they were fake. As in ‘visible from space’ fake. Microblading fixes all of that, with brows that can be any shape or fullness you want, and that will stand up to very close inspection.
Microblading tattoos individual brow hairs that will exactly match your own hairs in thickness and color. The results will stand up to very close inspection and look completely natural
Microblading involves tattooing on individual brow hairs. The thickness of the hair, the color, and the overall shape of the brow is under the artist’s complete control. And qualified microblading technicians are artists, creating the brows you’ve always wanted while leaving the brows you already have intact unless you choose to have them removed. Having your natural brows removed is an option, but typically only for those who wish to completely change the shape of their brows.
Microblading isn’t just for the young and otherwise flawlessly beautiful, either. A significant number of women over 40 are having their thinning brows filled back in. Most of us have noticed how men’s eyebrows become bushier as they age, but women usually suffer the opposite. There are a number of reasons why our brows may thin over time, sometimes quite dramatically in a distressingly short period.
As we age, our body simply becomes less robust. This applies to our hair follicles as well. While we may not lose individual hairs, that is, we might still have the same number of eyebrow hairs we had when we were younger, the follicles atrophy and our eyebrows become thinner. There is also less pigment. This can make our brows look much thinner, even though we have the same number of hairs we always had.
Androgenetic alopecia. Sounds sexy, right? OK, maybe not. This is the medical term for female pattern baldness and it is very common. Two-thirds of women will lose at least some hair after menopause and almost half will have experienced noticeable hair loss by age 65. While male pattern baldness starts at the hairline, with hair being lost almost entirely from the top of the head, female pattern baldness is different. In women, the hair loss happens all over, although it is often most noticeable at the part line. Individual hairs also become thinner, and may break more easily. This affects the brows as well so you may actually be losing brow hairs. Most often you’ll notice this thinning at the outer edges, and it may progress from there. In extreme cases the brows may disappear almost entirely.
Low thyroid levels can also lead to a thinning of the brows. The following are symptoms of hypothyroidism:
If you have some of these symptoms, you should definitely see your doctor and have your thyroid checked. There are safe medications for this.
If your eyebrows have thinned due to hypothyroidism, they may fill in again naturally once you start medication, however in most cases at least some hair loss will be permanent.
Sudden hormonal changes can result in hair loss, not just from your brows, but from your scalp as well. This hair loss can happen seemingly overnight and be quite alarming. If the hormonal change is postpartum the good news is that the resulting hair loss will often reverse itself after about six months. If it’s caused by menopause, however, the hair loss will be permanent although in this case the loss of hair usually occurs over the course of many years and is very gradual.
If you suffer from eczema and it affects the area around your brows this can cause thinning as well.
Nutrient-poor processed foods are very prevalent in our society. This makes it difficult for many of us to get proper nutrition. When we consider that our body needs not just dozens, but literally hundreds of different nutrients in the right balance to stay healthy, it’s no surprise that many of us simply aren’t getting all the vitamins, minerals, healthy fats and proteins that we need. Add to this the fact that each of our bodies is unique and will respond with different degrees of sensitivity to a lack of certain nutrients. This means that the trace element your body is missing might cause no issues for 99 other women, but you’ll be the one in a hundred who is losing her eyebrows due to this nutritional lack. Because of this, we can be eating a fairly healthy diet and still be short of something that our body needs and it can be almost impossible to identify the specific nutrient we’re short of.
If you do suspect a nutritional deficiency might be the cause of your thinning brows, here is a short list of the most common culprits, although there can be many others.
Many women suffer from an iron deficiency and we become even more susceptible to this as we age. Sometimes hair loss may be the only visible sign and you might otherwise feel fine, but in time the iron deficiency will cause other issues. It’s especially difficult for vegans and vegetarians to get enough iron in their diet, as the highest concentrations of dietary iron are found in meat and fish. If you suspect you might be iron deficient, get tested. Don’t start taking an iron supplement without seeing your doctor first, as too much iron can also be bad for your health.
This one isn’t very likely as our American diet actually has sufficient amounts of zinc, although once again if you’re vegan or vegetarian you might want to get checked for this.
Sorry to sound like I’m picking on vegetarians, but once again you might be at risk. Insufficient dietary protein can definitely cause hair loss. And of course, this doesn’t just happen to vegetarians. If you eat very little meat, or know that you have a poor diet, you could be protein deficient. If you think this might be the problem, bodybuilding supplement stores sell casein protein, which is a long-digesting protein synthesized from milk. Three servings a day of casein protein, one every eight hours or so, should correct any protein deficiency in short order.
If you think you’re suffering from a nutrient deficiency we can help with that. Check out our IV Vitamin Therapy page.
If you are sick or go on a crash diet (never do this – diets are very unhealthy!) you may lose a great deal of weight in a very short time. This can lead to hormonal fluctuations that can put your hair follicles into hibernation. As we lose hairs constantly, if new hair isn’t growing in to take its place we may experience drastic hair loss in a very short period of time. The good news here is that the follicles aren’t dead, just hibernating. When you recover your health, or start eating a balanced diet again, the problem should correct itself within a few months.
So how does it work? What is the microblading process and what should you expect in terms of results?
Microblading is a semi-permanent cosmetic procedure where the technician will tattoo on individual hairs, very convincingly mimicking the look of a natural brow. It’s semi-permanent because the ink isn’t injected as deeply into the skin as a regular tattoo. In fact, the procedure uses a row of very fine needles to create a hair-thin line instead of the traditional tattoo gun.
Your esthetician can perfectly match the color of your existing brows, or if you really want a makeover you can have your natural brows removed first, then get eyebrows any shape or shade you wish. Do keep in mind though that if you go this route you’ll need to be extra diligent in getting regular follow-up procedures, or you’ll be the girl with the amazing vanishing brows after a couple of years. This kind of extreme step is usually not required though, unless the shape you want can’t be laid over your existing brows. Our microblading clinician can add an arch, extend your brow line in either direction and otherwise do quite amazing things to change the shape of your brows without the need to have existing brows removed. Do see us for a consultation first before taking any extreme steps.
In this closeup you can see how the microblading needle is used to make hair-fine shallow cuts in the skin. Once this process is complete pigment is massaged into the area. This temporarily tattoos the skin under the cuts, creating very realistic brows.
After thoroughly sanitizing your brow area to protect against infection, your brow artist will pencil in the individual hairs. This means you can see the final result before anything permanent happens! Once you’re satisfied with the look of your new brows, our esthetician will use a microblading needle to make tiny cuts over the penciled lines. This sounds painful, but actually the discomfort is minimal and if you’ve ever had your brows threaded, the sensation is quite similar. The microblading cuts are quite shallow, so if you have a tattoo this is where the difference in the two procedures really stands out as the ink has not yet been applied.
Once the cuts are made, our esthetician will massage in the pigment. This causes the ink to penetrate under the skin, but only in the spots where the micro cuts have been made. After cleaning the excess pigment from your skin, your new brows will be revealed!
The entire process takes about two hours and the results will last for one to three years. We also provide a touch up after four weeks and this is included in the price. To keep your new brows you will need to have the process repeated every couple of years.
You’ll probably want to keep them around for special occasions when you want a more dramatic look, but most of our clients find that they no longer need to pencil their brows each morning. Your new natural-looking brows will be as full and dark as you want them to be. Perfect brows and an extra few minutes of sleep each morning!
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